Imagine Exhibitions, a leader in worldwide travelling exhibitions and entertainment, has announced that Titanic: The Exhibition, produced in collaboration with Fever, will open at Westfield Old Orchard, Chicago, in February 2024.
The Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the early hours of 15 April 1912. This exhibition opens over 100 years after the disaster, which continues to attract interest for both the story of the ship, and the passengers on board.
Immersive touring exhibition
Titanic: The Exhibition is the biggest and most immersive touring Titanic exhibition, and will open at Westfield Old Orchard in Skokie, near Chicago, on Friday 16 February 2024. Visitors will embark on a narrative journey that sheds light on the destinies of the passengers and crew aboard the sinking ship.
Tickets go on sale on 6 December and cost from $29 for adults, with discounted rates for children, seniors, military and groups. Advance tickets will be available to members of the waitlist.
Tom Zaller, president and CEO of Imagine Exhibitions, says: “Titanic has been a part of my life since the late 90’s when I had the incredible opportunity to dive to the wreck site, and since that firsthand experience, I’ve presented hundreds of exhibitions about the ship, her people and her stories.
“One of the first Titanic exhibitions I was a part of was in Chicago in 2000. Over 860,000 people came to that exhibition; so many, in fact, that we returned in 2002 by popular demand and another 450,000 people came to see it. It’s been more than 20 years since I’ve presented a Titanic exhibition in the Chicagoland area and I’m extremely excited to be returning.
“This story continues to fascinate people; it’s every man’s story – the story of hopes and dreams. Our exhibition is designed to immerse the visitor in the history of the Titanic in a new way, with incredible media experiences and recreated environments that bring the story to life.”
Titanic: The Exhibition is an interactive display that shares the dramatic and chronological story of the design, creation, launch, maiden voyage, and disaster of the world’s largest and most sumptuous ship of its time.
Personal stories
Hundreds of artifacts from the Titanic and her sister ships, as well as props and costumes from James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster film Titanic, will be on display inside immersive reproductions of the ship’s interior, where they guide visitors through Titanic’s story, from sinking to undersea discovery.
On entering the exhibition, visitors are given a boarding card that corresponds to a passenger on the ship, allowing them to follow an individual passenger’s tale as they explore the first, second, and third-class galleries and artifacts.
The tales of love and tragedy culminate in the final galleries, which display personal possessions and personal anecdotes, with a commemoration wall that records what happened to each of the passengers.
The exhibit features highly detailed recreations of the ship’s interiors complete with music from the period. These include a two-story full-scale reproduction of the ship’s famous Grand Staircase, the first-class hallway and millionaires suite, the third-class hallway and cabin, the boiler room, and the ship’s exterior promenade deck which is complete with a night sky full of stars.
The Discovery Gallery, which is dedicated to the discovery and exploration of the site of the Titanic wreck, has an elevated glass floor that simulates walking over the ocean floor. Visitors can experience part of what discovery teams witnessed on dives to the Titanic site with broken china in the sand.
An impactful and informative film provides an in-depth look at the most recent forensic research related to the Titanic’s collision, breakup, and sinking. In addition, award-winning underwater photography of the Titanic is exhibited in the Discovery Gallery and reveals the ship’s present condition on the seafloor.
Imagine Exhibitions recently celebrated the opening of Downton Abbey: The Exhibition at Westfield Old Orchard Shopping Center in Skokie, Chicago, in collaboration with NBCUniversal. This venue follows successful showings in Singapore, New York, West Palm Beach, Boston, Atlanta, and The Biltmore Estate in North Carolina.
